KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Fresh off a record-setting effort the Truman State women took on Lincoln at Pershing Arena and pulled away in the second half for a 71-53 MIAA victory.

With just over 11 minutes left in the game Truman trailed 39-35. Then Amy Briggs stole the show as she drove the lane on a fast break and pulled the Bulldogs within two at 39-37.

Next time down the floor Becka McHenry found an open Briggs who drilled a three-pointer and put TSU up 40-39 and the ladies never looked back from there.

Briggs would score eight of her team high 15 points within a three-minute span that saw Truman go from down four to up 10.

One thing that helped jump start Briggs and the rest of her teammates is when head coach Michael Smith decided it was time to shake things up and go with the full-court pressure defense.

“Our full-court pressure is something we have implemented since our Christmas break, it helps to slow some teams down, it was very effective tonight and I thought it was the difference in the game,” said Smith.

The pressure was nicely timed when Lincoln’s main ballhandler Jackeya Mitchell went to the locker room after falling hard on her knee.

“When their point guard went down I thought why not? Let’s try this and see what happens. We didn’t get a whole lot of traps, but we did come up with some key steals,” said Smith.

Lincoln kept the game close throughout the first 30 minutes, forcing Truman to play a slowdown halfcourt game. Jennifer Conway carried got the Bulldogs offensively through the early part of the game scoring seven of her 13 in the first half, and drawing constant double-teams from the Blue Tigers defense.

“We were able to pound it inside on the post tonight. We did a good job at that, a lot of teams have been taking away our inside game. Tonight, Lincoln was bound and determined to take away our three-point shot so it was nice that we could bang away inside and get some high-percentage shots,” said Smith.

The win moved Truman’s record to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA.

Briggs was forced into a new role tonight as she made her first career start replacing the injured Nicole Gloor, who is out with a mild concussion.

“She usually brings a big spark for us off the bench as our first girl in, but with Nicole’s injury we put her in the starting lineup and she responded really well. She was able to still bring the same kind of energy, and she is a lot of fun to watch,” said Smith.

Page 2 of 2 - Briggs is a junior college transfer from Johnson County CC.

“We won, and that’s all that matters,” said Briggs.

Truman had three other players in double-figures including McHenry, who also had 15. Jessica Redd also had 13 and Courtney Strait had 10, including some timely three balls of her own.

The Bulldogs also got big contributions from two players who didn’t register a single point. Bianca Szafarowicz and Megan Sharpe both had eight rebounds for Truman.

Gloor, who suffered her injury in practice, is expected to be back for Truman’s game against Central Oklahoma on Jan. 11. Between now and then the Bulldogs have a trip to St. Charles to take on Lindenwood.

“It’s always a sign of a good team when you don’t play a very good game and still find a way to win,” said Smith.